Moving back to London

[LilyRose89]

After 2 years spent in a nearby city, we've decided to move back to London with our 1 year old, and rent for 1-2 years before deciding where to settle definitely.

Therefore, we're looking for a London family friendly borough to settle in!

We've lived everywhere in flat shares around London but nowhere with a baby and we would like to find a place that is family friendly, safe, where we have plenty of access to shops, restaurants, cafes, and that is still relatively affordable - if we can call anything affordable in London. Highgate/Hampstead is my dream but unaffordable at the moment, let's bar Fulham, Chelsea, all of this.

Where do all the lovely MNetters live in London, and where would you recommend to settle with a young family?

The type of property we would look at is a 2 bedrooms with outside space.

Thank you!

You have a decent budget, does that also include more expensive childcare?

Where in Hackney (shoreditch), very family friendly, great parks, countless baby/toddler groups including at weekends and good state primary schools. There be lots of rentals at and well below your budget as well. We have a baby and a seven year old.

I would probably look at availability of nurseries and primary schools first, some great family friendly areas are lacking in those, especially
if you state educate.

Sorry, we’re, not where.

good to know @Simonjt , thanks for your reply. I like this area and work in Old Street so it would be a good fit. Budget doesn't include childcare, just for rent and we would look at state education, yes. What put me off shoreditch is that I only saw flats rather than houses which makes sense as very central.

Ladywell SE London, 2 train stops, 15 mins and you are at Southbank. SE London is v family friendly, Brockley (brilliant weekly food market) Honour Oak Park, Forest Hill, Peckham (loads of great restaurants). All close to East Dulwich. All great for families. Also more options on your budget there and will be more within reach if you want buy with that budget at some point. Good luck.

We're also in Hackney (Stoke Newington) and it's ridiculously child friendly. Good options for primary & secondary schools, lots of parks, cycling routes & transport to City & West End isn't bad. We can get to Oxford Circus in 35 mins via Seven Sisters.

How about Crouch End? Very family friendly, full of lovely cafes etc. Within walking distance of Highgate but cheaper. Great schools as well.

No tube but if you’re on the Highgate side you can walk to Highgate tube and definitely be in town within your 45 mins. Alternatively you can get the bus to Finsbury Park which has brilliant tube connections, or overland into Moorgate.

Not that I need a house but would need a small outside space as we have a dog.

DS just started nursery so I feel I have a few more years before looking at school catchments

You will be applying from 1st September in the academic year your child is 4.

You need to be able to prove you lived in the area e.g. pay council tax so you want to be in that property from around the time your child hits their 3rd birthday. In some areas there is a shortage of school places and so people will try to challenge those who rent.

In regards to the South Bank while I've seen couples with primary age and younger children who clearly live in the area, it doesn't feel a nice place to live due to the high number of tourists and people going out. Most of London doesn't have that.

Oh and some of the state schools in Wimbledon aren't nice. The people I know who have children there or grew up there are/were either privately educated or did their secondary education in neighbouring boroughs.

I think Balham/Clapham is a good shout, there are some nice primary schools in Balham. I recently visited a friend in Herne Hill and it was so nice! Really green and lovely shops/cafes, quick overground to central

OK @RedWingBoots thanks for the advice, it seems that I definitely need to settle, even if I'm renting, in the catchment area of a good primary school to be ahead of the curve. Agreed for Southbank, I suspected it as well. Wimbledon would be a bit far out anyways.

To answer the other posters and thank you for the replies; Crouch End I could never completely warm up to which is weird since everyone loves it, just feels too crowded for me.

I don't know any of the Forest Hill area but a quick search on Rightmove showed me some really nice and nicely priced properties so thank you, will look into it.

Walthamstow some friends bought here so good contender. Very quick to go central as well.

I would say so far I have a good list with my perception of each of them:

• Ealing and Barnes: green spaces, beautiful but bit far out is the only con, same with Richmond.


• Hackney and Stoke Newington: family friendly, lots of restaurants cafes etc


• Classic family friendly places: Balham, Putney, Primrose Hill, Highgate and Hampstead, Highbury and Islington (although $$$), Hampstead Gardens, Walthamstow

Did I just list all of London :D
I think my next step will be to narrow down by primary catchment area and property prices that are for sale, as if we decide to stay, would be great to buy a property in the area we rent.

Thanks all!

Thanks! Will have a look at Herne Hill, been here once and loved it.

All the areas @churrios mentioned, plus Blackheath and Crystal Palace

The area around Victoria Park is lovely too

I’m a south suburbs girl- Beckenham, Bromley, Hither Green - I like having Kent 20mins down the road as well as 20mins to central London by train. I visit lots of farms and go fruit picking with my little ones. Plus more for your money.

I’d recommend Highbury, anywhere in this right angled triangle except for St Thomas Road which gets lots of football traffic.

lots of green space, independent cafes etc, very family friendly and good schools. Victoria line and overground/national rail.

I love Battersea and Wandsworth, East Dulwich, Richmond and Wimbledon. All south of the river but lots of parks and green spaces and good schools.

agree, being on the edge is nice for having quick access to countryside. I'm biased but like Dulwich, Crystal Palace. Beckenham if you don't mind being a bit further out and more suburban feel.

We live in South Kensington and I'm surprised at how family friendly it is. So much to do with a toddler.
Have the usual music classes/swimming and plenty of free places to visit like the science museum, natural history museum, a very local playground, princess diana playground in Hyde park.
We are due our second and have to move out of the area as we can't afford more bedrooms :(
A good friend lives in Putney and there is plenty for toddlers there too and would be more affordable!

Highly, highly recommend the Ravenscourt Park area as being family friendly and super easy to get to Notting Hill and the centre incredibly easily by both train and bus (which is always more fun with small children - the number 94 is a favourite!).The area just north of the park with the streets to the West of Askew Rd is great too and marginally cheaper. There are lots of excellent primaries there including St Stephens, John Betts, Good Shepherd etc. but you would need to look at catchments (can be tiny) or church attendance for some. If you renting until primary you could get close to those schools and then buy in the slightly cheaper streets of Shep Bush or between Ravenscourt Park and Chiswick if you are happy there.

There is a very strong community feel there as most of the children attend the state primaries rather than being bused around to private (which is what happens in most of the more expensive areas). Halloween is amazing for instance.

I would also consider parts of Acton (Poets Corner is lovely) and cheaper again but still not too far away (and of course the Elizabeth Line is a huge draw). Barnes is super too but feels more village like and harder to get in and out of so feels less linked up to the centre.

Sydenham/Forest Hill/Crystal Palace

I live in Wimbledon. I own a terraced three bedroom plus office (is listed as a bedroom but no). Have lovely sitting room and roomy kitchen/diner and a 40' garden. An outstanding priMary on my street, and another a couple blocks away. Parks at either end of the street. Walk to tube/train is 15 minutes. Walk to the shops is ten. Really lovely family area with organised activities in the parks regularly. There's a well known childrens theatre, a regular theatre, big cinema, and loads of shops/restaurants/ cafes. Short bus ride up the hill to chi chi Wimbledon Village.
To own it's about £950-1.25m. To rent, if it's a two bed (loft not yet converted) it's £2500/month. There are slightly cheaper streets, and way more expensive streets!

I feel like the choice will be so hard! It's getting me so excited to move back, thanks all for the great advice! Very nice to see there are so many great family hubs in London, and that you all seem to love the area you live in.

So far outside of the areas I was going to explore in the first place, I feel most enthusiastic about Herne Hill, Victoria Park village and Ravenscourt Park.

Crystal Palace .... recently voted Sunday times best place to live in London. Lovely parks, cafes etc and lots of baby friendly activities. Plus lovely nurseries and schools x

Thanks for that! I don't know at all Kensal rise/Queen's Park, will look at Rightmove. And nice to see you second the Ravenscourt Park comment. It's in our budget!

One thing OP that's hard to judge is when you say places are too far out - out of interest too far out from what? Work? Central London? I found when my son was young that we just didn't go much into central London , stayed far more local or popped out to places like Hampstead, Richmond etc. if for instance you had a garden flat in somewhere like Wimbledon or Richmond it can actually be quicker to get to central London than areas that look closer on paper as they have a good train network, not just tube. . Ravenscourt Park though is quite a nice suggestion as it has Chiswick High Rd very close by (which I like a lot), but is still quite urban- if that's the feel you are after- same with Turnham Green. I would also factor in schools and the reason a lot of people have suggested the leafy suburbs is that a lot have really good state primaries. My son was born in crouch end, suprised you didn't much like that , as that too ticks a lot of boxes, it's not the best connected though

Are you not concerned about being priced out of London if you wait another couple of years to buy? Appreciate you may be on mega bucks but if you’re throwing away 2 years plus rent make sure you live somewhere you can afford to buy in the future. Can’t see London prices going down much..,